Having travelled the world for the last 40 years, this year Gastech is back on home turf at London’s ExCeL. In 2014 the event moves to Korea so if you haven’t already, book your place now as who knows when it will be back!

Visit KPSol at ignite!9-10 October 2012

2012 sees an exciting change to the world’s premier gas conference and exhibition with the inclusion of ignite!, the new Energy Recruitment Event taking place alongside Gastech and KPSol will be there.

In partnership with OilCareers.com ignite! is one of the leading Recruitment Shows for the Energy world, supported by influential companies and significant industry bodies. Co-located at Gastech, ignite! will give the foremost oil & gas companies and qualified job seekers the opportunity to meet one another face to face.

That’s where we come in; visit Zubair and Lauren at stand i80 to find out how KPSol can take the pain and confusion out of insurance for freelancers and contractors. Whether you’re a recruiter or an industry professional who’s looking for contracts we can simply and affordably address what cover a freelancer or contractor should hold and with our price guarantee, we’ll make sure it’s available at the best possible value.

Meet the experts face to face and be ready for a few surprises as we dispel the myth that insurance is dull!

Ignite! Runs alongside Gastech on the 9th and 10th of October and both exhibitions are free to industry professionals.

Prompt Payment Code set to improve cash flow for small businesses and contractors;

Are your clients keeping a vice-like grip on your finances?

In tough financial times, cash flow is key and never more so than for freelancers, consultants and contractors. No matter how successful your business is, the risk of your clients failing to settle invoices on time is ever present. However, last week, the Forum of Private Business voiced their support for a significant new government scheme which is hosted and administered by the Institute Of Credit Management and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. The Prompt Payment Code is a voluntary code of conduct to which large companies are being encouraged to sign up. The pledges are simple and to the point and the code is being heralded as the first concrete proposal to tackle this issue in decades.

But what of the other risks to your livelihood? Could you afford to pay the legal costs, compensation and even medical bills resulting from a client making a claim against you? Whether for injury, damage to goods or property or even loss of revenue due to advice and recommendations you have made or actions you have taken, your business and personal finances could be at risk should you be found answerable.

Thankfully it’s not all doom and gloom. KPSol have worked with our clients and government legislation to tailor a complete and affordable package of insurance to protect you and your livelihood and to put you one step ahead of your competition. By holding our Freelancer Insurance you’re covered. With one simple policy you’re protected by a comprehensive range of cover, from Professional Indemnity, right down to Personal Accident. It’s affordable and you can even pay monthly meaning you needn’t skimp on cover, even if your clients haven’t signed up to the Prompt Payment Code Yet.

We are pleased to announce that June 2012 marks an exciting anniversary for KPSol- our 5th birthday!

This is an exciting milestone for us and reminds us of our success to date, including recently being awarded the prestigious ‘Chartered Insurance Broker’ status by the Chartered Insurance Institute. We are proud that we have continued to grow over the last 5 years despite the challenging economic climate and competition from large insurers and comparison sites. We now employ 12 employees and have helped over 6000 freelance professionals and their clients to stay safe.

Our success wouldn’t have been possible without our customers, so to celebrate we are offering an array of prizes over the next 5 months, both to loyal customers and to potential customers who obtain a quote. These include 2 hospitality tickets to a major UK golfing event, iPads, Kindles, free policies, Love2Shop vouchers and digital cameras. Anyone is free to enter, simply click hereto get a quote for our great value package and you’ll automatically be entered into the monthly prize draws.

We will also be holding a well deserved celebration event for our staff to mark this special occasion and thank them for their hard work. Keep an eye out for pictures on our blog!

Depending on your industry and profession, there may be a legal obligation to hold insurance, but many freelancers are not required by law to have any insurance at all and this can instantly seem like an easy place to save money when trying to ensure maximum returns from your freelancing activities. However, freelancer insurance isn’t all just about protecting your client, it also be about protecting yourself!

Insurance is often required to satisfy certain obligations in a contract between you and your client, but rather than seeing this as an unwanted cost, you should consider the benefits that it brings you for yourself.

Consider the risks and exposures that you place yourself under every time you complete work for a client. For example, do you provide professional advice to people that they may act upon and make costly decisions from it? Do you visit your clients at their premises where it is possible you could cause an accident or damage? Is there a chance that you work could somehow damage your clients reputation, business or even cause some kind of physical harm if something went wrong?

It is well worth asking yourself all these questions as if any of these issues were to arise, it is not simply your client’s problem, it will in fact become your problem extremely quickly!

By holding freelancer insurance, you can protect yourself against potential problems that could cost you serious money, or even your entire livelihood. If a client trips or falls as a result of your activities and you do not have the relevant insurance, you could be liable to cover any compensation awarded. This could be a few hundred pounds in the case of a small injury, or it could arise to tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds if the accident was to be serious.

Another common and highly recommended protection would be professional indemnity, especially if you are in the business of consulting or giving advice. While from the outset it may seem that the worst that could happen from giving bad advice would be to lose a client, the reality is actually a lot worse. Without adequate insurance, you could personally be held responsible for loss of revenue, damage to reputation and branding and even loss of potential future profits. Once again, when you consider the small cost of this insurance compared with the outrageously high potential figures involved in NOT having it, it quickly makes sense that taking out this insurance is actually more about protecting yourself, rather than the client.

Don’t fail to remember as well that by having insurance in the first place, regardless of any issues arising, can benefit you as a freelancer straight away. It shows clients that you are a true professional and gives potential new customers the confidence to try your services without being left high and dry in the event of a problem. In the long run this can help you improve your reputation and standing in the industry and win new business that you may have previously lost out on.

Kingsbridge Risk Solutions Ltd have recently been awarded the prestigious Chartered Insurance Brokers designation by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).
This is the industry’s gold standard for firms of insurance brokers. It confirms that we have satisfied rigorous qualification criteria by retaining highly-qualified staff who subscribe to the membership conditions of the CII.
It also involves a commitment to continuing professional development and adherence to an industry standard Code of Ethics. You can view the Code at www.cii.co.uk/code.
There are less than 100 Chartered Insurance Brokers in the UK. When you use a Chartered firm you are dealing with proven professionals. The CII is empowered by the Privy Council to award Chartered status, and the award is only made in deserving cases. And while Chartered titles are steeped in history, they remain the benchmark of professional excellence and integrity.
Only the UK’s premier insurance broking firms qualify for Chartered status. If you wish to know more about how using a Chartered firm can ensure you get the best possible advice, service and support, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Note: With over 93,000 members, the CII is the world’s largest professional body dedicated to the insurance, savings and financial services sector.

Since KPSol started trading there have been a few stumbling blocks which have frustrated us. However none more so than our recent experiences with insurance comparison sites. These are household name aggregators with considerable exposure and are firms you should be able to trust.

They advertise themselves as being able to find you the best deal with the minimum amount of fuss, entering your details once and at the click of a button they compare all the policies from numerous insurers for you – hopefully saving you money and time in this process.

Well, this is what they state; but in reality are these one-click comparison sites really offering the best deals?

Some sites brag that they compare prices from “leading UK Business Insurance providers”, meaning that you place your trust in them to compare quotes from all the necessary providers and find you the best deal…this simply is not the case! We are finding that most comparison sites are making exclusive arrangements with brokers who only compare policies from companies that they have commercial (commission) deals with. This is something which they can control to get the best deal for themselves and NOT the consumer. A little unknown fact is that over £650 MILLION is taken in commission by price comparison sites every year! The levels of commission they insist on can in fact bar entry to cheaper policies from broker facilities meaning that you simply don’t get the best policy for you.

Shockingly, this is not just restricted to comparison sites; whilst attempting to make arrangements to promote our policy to relevant groups we have recently been rejected by a contractor advisory website as they already have an agreement with an existing insurance provider. Now this is a website trusted to provide accurate and intelligent advice to their members but we found they let commission based commercial agreements rule their judgement denying their members access to a policy which provided better cover and a much lower price.

So next time that you look for business insurance, maybe you should think twice about who you trust to give you the best deal…

Most contractors facing an uphill battle to find work within their specific industry, whether they are trawling through job vacancies or wrestling numerous application forms it is not surprising to find ‘convenience’ at the top of their list when sourcing insurance.

It is quite fair to say that insurance is not the top priority for many contractors, however, many clients or agencies will expect to see verification of not only Professional Indemnity Insurance, but also Employers and Public Liability Insurances. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for the contracts to specify minimum amounts for each policy and if you are not in immediate possession of these, there is no chance of being paid!

Also, a recent report by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) showed the ‘engineering’ sector has been the only sector showing increase, month by month, with the chair of REC’s Engineering and Technical division, Philip Higgins stating, “the engineering sector has witnessed a health growth in demand all year and this is accelerating”, meaning that many contractors are showing more flexibility in the industries they are working in, proving further that one of the main benefits of contracting is the flexibility to work where the demand for labour is.

So, with both of these points taken into account, why aren’t insurance companies showing the same trend?

Modern freelance professionals are looking for a quick, convenient insurance package that will cover them for their role as an itinerant contractor and not be dependant on the job title and industry they work in.

With this information, Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance have designed an all-encompassing contractor insurance package, covering the main exposures that a contractor would be subject to. This isn’t a policy where premium is affected by the industry of work or job title, offering clear exclusions and restrictions, the policy eases the worry that contractors have that they may not be covered for any new roles they take on.

A noteworthy report for all contractors was issued this month highlighting the importance of holding personal accident insurance. The report confirmed that the self employed were at most risk of financial loss if hospitalised. Of 400 contractors surveyed, an amazing 72% didn’t have any kind of insurance that would help the financial burden of being unable to work through a workplace accident.

A contractors self employed status means they are likely to have no other person to hold responsible following an accident, but a simple affordable personal accident cover could protect them from the inevitable financial pitfalls.

Experts in freelance insurance, Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance offer a package of insurance which includes personal accident cover that not only insures for accidents that occur at work, but also for any accident that takes place whilst commuting. Kingsbridge offer a weekly benefit of up to £500 whilst recovering from an injury. In addition to this, lump sum payments are payable for death or permanent disability resulting from an occupational accident.

Recent claims have seen our insurers award weekly payouts to claimants for periods of incapacity from 2 to 12 months, providing £26,000 benefit in the worst case. Our insurance package provides contractors the peace of mind of having their own cover in the event of a mishap, regardless of the blame. Have you thought about the potential loss?

The new Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) will come into force later this year and for those keen to be seen as outside the scope of the regulations focus will return to IR35 tests.

In the draft guidance “the definition of an agency worker excludes those who are in business on their own account”, but simply owning a Limited Company and putting your earnings through it will not be enough to put you beyond the scope of the regulations. Any dispute would require the worker to prove that their circumstances, arrangements and company set up genuinely support their self employed status.

A number of factors can be considered in this regard but it is likely that you will need to demonstrate a number of them to succeed in convincing HMRC. Contractors who take fiscal responsibility for any negligence in their advice and purchase appropriate business insurance will be seen as different to those choosing to rely on indemnity from the end client in the same way as an employee would.

Other factors which could be considered are the purchase of your own business equipment, computer hardware and software together with appropriate licences, personal protective clothing for site visits etc. In addition supporting your own professional development through training, or perhaps subscriptions for membership to a professional body in your chosen field.

All of these things are generally provided for employees but if you rely on them it could support the view that your status is only really in place for job flexibility or tax reasons and it would be likely to lead to additional scrutiny from HMRC.

Now it’s been decided that IR35 is here to stay, albeit with better management by HMRC, freelance contractors needs to refresh themselves with it, ensuring they are compliant.

Taking out Insurance for your limited company has always been a good indicator to HRMC of your independent status, and although you can buy the basic requirements to satisfy this element, you should also be thinking how best to cover your company for all eventualities.

Being comprehensively covered has to be the key for peace of mind, not just for you, but your client and agency as well. Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance offer a package, specifically designed for freelance contractors working through their own limited company or as a sole trader, and as experts in freelance insurance they have thought about claims coming from every angle. The package even includes a personal accident cover for occupational accidents providing you with weekly income should you be injured at work.

Richard Bell, director of Kingsbridge, says “as a freelance contractor you have to take responsibility for losses which arise from your errors, and relying on other parties to indemnify you for such loss can be seen as evidence that you are not in business in your own right. Why take this risk when affordable comprehensive cover is available, after all could you really afford the legal cost to defend a professional indemnity claim, even if the allegations are unfounded?